Fireplace



March 18, 1941. H, HAYDEN I 2,235,428

FIREPLACE Filed July 28, 1958 10 19 50 INVENTOR fim'zdffo/rzerjfcg dem ORNEY Patented Mar. 18, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 6 Claims.

This invention relates to fireplaces such as are used for heating houses and the like.

Ordinarily it has 'been customary to provide a srrroke flue of such size and shape that gases rise from the grate in a large enough volume to preclude complete combustion of all the gases and solid particles carried thereby. Proof of this fact is sometimes seen in the presence of a flame above the top of a chimney which does not eX tend all the way down into the chimney for its full length. Such incomplete combustion is believed due to the volume of gases being sufficient to keep air away from the inner portion of the rising column.

An object of this invention is to eliminate this objection and obtain complete combustion by spreading the gases intoso thin a sheet that'all particles are brought into'contact with the air.

Another object is to provide an eflicient fireplace capable of heating a room with little fuel. A further object'is to absorb heat from in back of the fireplace and utilize the'heat so absorbed for also heating the same or another room.

Stillanother object is to provide enhanced circulation of air without the aid of a fan or blower whereby all portions of an ordinary room may be heated.

In-the drawing- Fig. 1 is a front elevation of one embodiment of this invention.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section through the device of Fig. l.

Fig, 3 is a. top plan view of the device of Figs. 1 and 2 with parts broken away.

Fig. 4 represents the general direction of convection currents induced in a room being heated, though of course the room is for convenience dwarfed in size with respect to the fireplace.

Some ordinary type of grate, andirons, or other suitable support In for fuel to be consumed is elevated sufliciently to provide an air space ll below it as is customary. The fuel 12 may b wood, coal, or almost any well known type of suitable fuel. Above the grate is a bulbous deflector l3, the sides of which slope upwardly and outwardly at both the front and the sides. Inthe form illustrated this deflector I3 is of the general shape of an inverted cone though it will be understood the same may be polygonal in cross section to accomplish the same general purpose. This hood acts to spread or thin out the rising gases into a sheet sufficiently thin so that practically all portions ofthegases may contact with the air and'thus-be completelyconsumed. With a small wood fire it has beenv noted these rising gases seem to be igneous and glow in rising and beingfanned or thinned out by the deflector.

Above the deflector is a hood i l of the general shape indicated for the purpose of catching the rising gases and directing them up the chimney IS. The deflector l3 should extend outwardly and upwardly far enough so that the volume of gases may be sufliciently thinned out to be completely consumed by the time they reach the portion I6 of maximum outward bulge. Above the portion IS the hood is of any convenient shape such as the general tapering or conical contour I1 illustrated.

The metal flooring 18 supports the grate or andirons high enough off the floor to provide a hollow space I9 so that air may be drawn through the louvers 20 and caused to circulate through the rising passage 2| in back of the fire and in back of the deflector It. The rear of the fireplace and the deflector it being of metal or other appropriate heat conducting material become hot and the air in the passage 2| becomes heated and rises through the passage 22 in back of the deflector and up the passage 23 behind the chimney and thence out into the upper portion of the room through the discharge vents 24 and '25, which are for convenience arranged on each side of the chimney. The air passing through the passages 2|, 22 and 23 is out of contact with the fire and free of any products of combustion. This air circulates in the general direction shown by the arrows in Fig. 4 and assists in causing better circulation in the room being heated by the fireplace. The air directly heated by the fireplace rises and moves in the general direction of the innermost arrows of Fig.4. Whereas in an ordinary room heated air tends to rise making the lower portion of the room cool, it will be seen that the additional heated air absorbed from the rear of the fireplace is discharged into the upper portion of the room and caused to circulate downwardly within the room and across the floor toward the fire.

room. However, the preferred embodiment con templates utilizing the heat absorbed from the rear of the fireplace and deflector in the same room in which the fireplace is located. This invention will be found applicable to a so-called double fireplace, that is, one which is common to two rooms and in such case the fire should preferably be in at least two parts, one on each side of the air passage 2|.

To direct the air in passage 2| into intimate contact with the heated deflector l3 it has been found desirable to provide a baffle 26 having a flat bottom portion and the inclined sides 21 as shown in Fig. 2. If desired the air in passage 2| may be directed toward the bottom, of the decflector'although this has not been found necessary. It is desirable, however, to prevent the air in back of the fireplace from rising laterally beyond the hood and for this reason the baflles 28 have been provided as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

A guard rail 29 around the hearth will be found to be ornamental and prevent any ashes from getting onto the floor of the room.

The hand rail 3!] around the lower part of the hood has been found to be kept cool enough without having it thermally insulated from the hood. The guard rail 29 is also kept cool by the cool air passing above and below it.

Within the flue a wall 3| may be provided to obtain the customary jet action for substantially continuous or more uniform flow of flue gases without their being mixed with too large a proortion of air from the room. After passing in contact with the deflector walls and with the inner flue wall determined by the cone H, the heated air passing through the passages 2|, 22 and 23 may be maintained in back of the chimney by additional bafiles. A damper 33 being customarily provided in a flue should be elevated in order to be located in a suitable portion of the chimney l5. It will be understood a damper for the air passages 2|, 22 and 23 may be provided by means of a shutter on the outside of the louvers or may be located elsewhere in these passages to be accessible from the sides or front. The lower portion 34 of the deflector l3 has been shown to be flat, though of course it may be somewhat inclined though preferably not as much inclined as are the sides IS.

A distinctive characteristic of this fireplace is its great efliciency in providing efiective heating with an unusually small amount of fuel.

For some reason the fire Will be found to burn more rapidly in the center of the grate, that is substantially under the center of the deflector. Possibly the reason for this is because the center of the fire is hottest and not cool as the surrounding edges may be, yet combustion seems to be complete. The gentle glow from hot gases around the deflector l3 provides radiant heat downwardly and outwardly into the room as distinguished from the radiant heat from an ordinary fireplace which is directed outwardly in practically only one direction instead of being directed laterally outwardly on both sides as is the case with this fireplace. Another reason for the fire being hottest in the center may be because the crown sheet 34 becomes very hot and thus assists in creating a strong draft in the center. The complete combustion of the gases rising from the grate by means of the deflector I3 is an important feature of this invention since much less heat energy is lost up the chimney. Another important feature of this invention is the supplemental heating by air in back of the grate and deflector I3 whereby the room is heated thoroughly throughout without the use of any fan or blower. 7 Of course this fireplace may be built in a corner.

Combustion is so complete that about seven (7) feet above the fire the flue is not hot enough to be uncomfortable to the bare hand when it is pressed against the metal of the flue and that is so even when a large enough fire is burning to cause a substantial sheet of flame up the outside of the deflector IS.

The air that causes the gases to ignite is preheated since it has to enter the fireplace under the deflected heat from the deflector. If coal or oil is used as fuel, the unit might be placed in the cellar of a house and the heated air piped into the flue as is the case with an ordinary furnace or heating unit. In this last event by placing a shield in front of the hearth and having return air registers, the unit could operate in place of an ordinary furnace but probably on much less fuel as well as less initial cost, since the fuel economy is due to the open complete burning. Ordinary heating units such as furnaces or stoves do not get enough air to effect complete combustion. The danger of fire is negligible because of the combustion being complete. The burning is not substantially difierent from the blaze from a gas stove. No open fireplace heretofore as far as is known has been adapted to give this effect.

In the appended claims the term grate has been used to cover andirons and equivalent purpose devices.

From the drawing it may be seen that the maximum width of the deflector I3 is over twice that of the grate illustrated. The bottom 34 of the deflector changes the direction of a large portion of the rising flames and gases and to that extent slows their movement.

I claim:

1. An open fireplace including a grate, a generally inverted conical guide spaced from and above said grate by an amount substantially greater than the depth of fuel on the grate, shaped to spread the hot gases laterally and forwardly to insure intimate contact between the air and the hot gases rising from a fire on said grate, a hood above and spaced from said guide on the sides and front, a passageway below said grate and in back of said guide extending above the guide, the guide being of metal and forming at least a portion of one wall of said passageway, said passageway discharging heated air into a room above the lower portion of said hood, the natural circulation of air through said passageway being suflicient to circulate the air of a room at a distance from said fireplace downwardly.

2. A fireplace including a grate .of substantial area, a bulbous deflector spaced above the grate and having its walls sloping outwardly, upwardly and laterally from a central portion less inclined than the surrounding portion of the deflector to fan out or thin out flames and gases rising from the grate in contact with the air until such gases are more than twice their lateral extent at the grate, whereby said deflector enables complete combustion to take place, a hood over the widest portion of said deflector for directing the products of combustion up a flue.

3. An open fireplace including a grate of substantial area and on which fuel may be burned, a deflector above the grate having a portion for changing the direction of movement of a large part of the rising flames and gases from the grate before they have risen enough to become cooled below the ignition temperature of the unburned particles of gas, said deflector above said first mentioned portion being outwardly and upwardly inclined to insure complete combustion of the gases rising from said grate by thinning out such gases.

4. An open fireplace having a fuel burning grate from which a column of gases of substantial cross sectional area rises, a deflector above the grate having its wall slopingfl upwardly and outwardly as well as flaring laterally on both sides beyond the grate, whereby the surface of the deflector is progressively increased upwardly and radiant heat may be transmitted laterally as well as outwardly, the deflector surface extending for a substantial distance both upwardly, laterally and outwardly whereby the flames and gases rising from the grate are spread and thinned out into a sheet of greater periphery and into intimate contact with the air to insure complete combustion of such gases before they become cooled below their ignition temperature, and a flue beginning adjacent the portion of the deflector of maximum width and depth for directing the products of combustion up a chimney.

5. An open fireplace having a fuel burning grate from which a column of gases of substantial cross sectional area arises, a deflector above the grate having its wall sloping upwardly and outwardly as well as flaring laterally on both sides beyond the grate, whereby the surface of the deflector is progressively increased upwardly and radiant heat may be transmitted laterally as well as outwardly, the deflector surface extending for a substantial distance both upwardly, laterally and outwardly whereby the flames and gases rising from the grate are spread and thinned out into a sheet of greater periphery and into intimate contact with the air to insure complete combustion of such gases before they become cooled below their ignition temperature, a flue beginning adjacent the portion of the deflector of maximum width and depth for directing products of combustion up a chimney, and a passage for supplying air underneath the grate, upwardly behind it, contiguous the rear side of the upwardly, outwardly and laterally flaring deflector and thence out into a room above the portion of the deflector of maximum width.

6. An open fireplace having a fuel burning grate from which a column of gases of substantial cross sectional area arises, a deflector above the grate having its wall sloping upwardly and outwardly as well as flaring laterally on both sides beyond the grate, whereby the surface of the deflector is progressively increased upwardly and radiant heat may be transmitted laterally as well as outwardly, the deflector surface extending for a substantial distance both upwardly, laterally and outwardly whereby the flames and gases rising from the grate are spread and thinned out into a sheet of greater periphery and into intimate contact with the air to insure complete combustion of such gases before they become cooled below their ignition temperature, and a flue beginning adjacent the portion of the deflector of maximum width and'depth fordirecting the products of combustion up a chimney, a portion of the deflector I immediately above the grate being somewhat flattened below its inclined Wall.

DAVID HOMER HAYDEN. 

